I flew into Wellington on Saturday, July 27 at 11:30.  Nate and his wife Rachael along with their baby boy Finley picked me up from the Airport.  It was a surreal experience seeing one of my closes friends for the first time in 4 years.  Nate did a year of missions work in Chicago through a program called Mission Year.  He worked with a non-for-profit building company called Breaking Ground as a carpenter.  It was great to see Nate and his wife, as I got my bag from the baggage area.  They both had the biggest smiles and embarrassed me with a bear hug. I had to take a step back from them both just to take the moment in.  I was in a bit of a shock.  Nate chuckled at me because of the expression I had on my face.  I know that this trip will be one that I will not want to end. 

We only stayed in Wellington for a couple of hours to pick up some items from Nate’s house and then headed out to Wyrough.  It is a small town near Taranga where I just had flew from.  Nate rented a large red van for our travels.  The van is slightly smaller then a commercial van from the states.  We are planning to do a lot of out doors activities so we needed tons of space to hold all of our bags and equipment. 

I was really stoked to drive.  I hadn’t driven in New Zealand.  New Zealand driving is very different then driving in the states.  One major difference is that they drive on the left side of the road opposite of the states.  New Zealand has round abouts instead of stoplights.  You will see these mostly in Chicago on side streets but we stop before we turn around them they don’t.  They “give way” to the right.  If a car is coming around on the right, then you stop.  If there are no cars present, then you move.  It helps keep the flow of traffic moving.  Also, on the North Island the roads are really windy because all of the mountains and hills that you need to get around.  In the beginning of my trip I was getting quite nauseous but after a while you get used to it.